ABC has booked a prime-time interview with pop star Janet Jackson, expected to be her first lengthy television interview since her brother Michael's death. More »
ABC has booked a prime-time interview with pop star Janet Jackson, expected to be her first lengthy television interview since her brother Michael's death. More »
Michael Jackson delivered a posthumous thriller at the North American box office this weekend as the movie of his aborted comeback "This Is It" took top spot, final figures showed Monday.
In a scene from "This Is It," stage director and creative partner to Michael Jackson Kenny Ortega was sorting out how to seamlessly jump from a video feed to the King of Pop's live cue.
SHANGHAI, October 31, 2009 (AFP) - China on Saturday opens a new bridge over the Yangtze that will pave the way for rapid development of the country's "last virgin island," Chongming -- now just an hour's drive from booming Shanghai.
With a surface area 50 percent bigger than Singapore, the island has captured the imagination of developers, who have considered building everything from a Disney theme park to a replica of Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch.
Some fear a parade of eager investors buoyed by the new transport links could ruin the rustic island and its vast wetlands, but officials insist the site will not become a stomping ground for land grabs and overdevelopment.
"We believe the negative impact from the bridge will be almost negligible," Zhao Qi, the Shanghai government official in charge of Chongming, told reporters during a visit ahead of Saturday's opening to normal traffic.
Two more bridges are planned that will connect Chongming to eastern Jiangsu province as part of a national highway to central Xi'an, and to Shanghai's Pudong International Airport, city construction commissioner Huang Rong said.
Chongming earned global attention in 2005 when then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chinese President Hu Jintao said it would be the site of the world's first so-called "eco-city" Dongtan, designed by a British firm.
The low-carbon, ultra-efficient city of the future was meant to be showcased at next year's World Expo in Shanghai, with 25,000 residents living there, but those plans have been overtaken by more traditional development objectives.
Zhao insisted the Dongtan plan had not been shelved for good, saying only it was "still in the planning stages".
Officials promote Chongming as the "last virgin island" and the "Shangri-La of Shanghai" but it is hardly unspoiled wilderness.
More than 700,000 people live there, and the population is projected to rise to two million within the next decade.
Residents currently depend on 18 ferry routes to reach the mainland, so the new bridge clearly will allow for faster commuting -- and will spell big bucks for investors.
But many are concerned that the island could fall prey to unscrupulous developers.
Philip Enquist, a Chicago-based architect with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, was hired by the Shanghai government to design a master plan for the island, which included compact communities spaced about 16 kilometers (10 miles) apart.
But he has heard nothing from officials for two years, when the Shanghai planning board handed authority over Chongming to a different department, and he fears the bridge will bring unchecked construction.
"Chongming runs a huge risk of being poorly developed because it's now accessible to Shanghai.
Michael Jackson's collaborators on "Thriller" say they are due more than $2.3 million from the singer's estate.
Michael Jackson has delivered a posthumous thriller to his fans, who flocked to worldwide premieres of a documentary film billed as the final concert performance of the King of Pop.
"Michael Jackson's This Is It" comes too late in the year to be considered for a documentary Oscar, but the film about the late King of Pop's preparations for a series of comeback concerts could qualify for other Hollywood honors, including the Academy Award for best picture.
A lawyer says the physician being investigated in Michael Jackson's death will appear for a Nov. 16 child support hearing in Las Vegas.
Michael Jackson may be headed to the top of the charts again _ this time at the movie box office.
MANILA - Stunning. Wonderful. Captivating. Mind-blowing. One-of-a-kind. Amazing. These words were used to describe Michael Jackson when he and his brothers first barged in the music scene as the Jackson 5 in the 1960s. The same can be said about him throughout the span of his celebrated and acclaimed career, including his last recorded work, the "This Is It" (TII) rehearsals.
MANILA - Under normal circumstances, the content that goes into the film "This Is It" would be part of the "Bonus Features" section of a concert DVD. "This Is It" is basically a collage of footage cut from reportedly more than 100 hours of film of the artist's rehearsals (done between April and June 2009) for his planned London concerts, supposed to have taken place from July onwards.
According to Forbes magazine, the richest dead celebrity isn't Michael Jackson.
Michael Jackson delivered a posthumous thriller Tuesday as fans flocked to worldwide premieres of a documentary film billed as the final concert performance of the King of Pop.
I always have mixed feelings about writing pieces for artists I promote lest I be accused of scratching my own back but for Kenny Wizz, I don't really care and will throw caution to the wind because he's not only good but great.
A month ago, I didn't know who Kenny Wizz was.
Argentine opera singer Gabriela Pochinki said Monday that she was talking to the organizers of the Las Vegas premiere of Michael Jackson's film "This Is It" when she was arrested at a swank Manhattan restaurant for yelling into her cell phone.
Dancers have launched a worldwide attempt to be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for the greatest number of people simultaneously dancing to Michael Jackson's hit song "Thriller."
Christie's auction house will offer up a portrait of Michael Jackson by Andy Warhol in New York on Nov. 10.
Angry Michael Jackson fans have launched an online protest about the singer's posthumous concert movie, claiming the film hides the truth about the "King of Pop's" tragic last days.